Hello! I'm new to this Harley Davidson forums! I've recently picked up a 2013 HD 1200 XL Custom Sportster. At the moment it has the stock bars (I think they're apes....Not my cup of tea) and i'm in need of ideas/Suggestions/Opinions about Handlebars. I've done my research in terms of understanding Handle bar measurements etc. The only issue is i have Forward controls on my Harley and some of the reviews on the handlebars i've had interest in is that you'll end up sitting in a really aggressive stance and quite far forward meaning after time it can become a little uncomfortable journey.

I've seen some youtube videos of these Handlebars and they look so nice however again some of the reviews state that having forward controls and these handlebars resulted in discomfort after periods of time. So if anybody has these handlebars installed with forward controls i'd appreciate your opinion/knowledge on that ( )

Again all Feedback, Advice and suggestions welcome! Pictures would definitely help inspire me. I'm not a huge Fan of ape hangers. So far Drag bars and Z bars have really caught my attention!

Thanks for reading!

 

got forwards, 8" mini ape z's.............really comfy to me, gonna depend on yourstyle of riding, how tall are ya

 

Hello old chap and welcome to HDF from not far away.

There is a lot to making ourselves comfortable, especially if you want to make any decent journeys. Frankly forwards don't cut it for me, my solution being to use normal mid controls, but with highway pegs. I don't like apes either, but the stock SuperLow bars are fine IMHO. As for YOUR comfort, that is not anything we can help you with directly, as it is such a personal thing. There are far too many options available, we'd be here forever going through them.

Forwards make you sit with all your weight on your backside and apes tend to exagerate that. The most comfortable riding position IMHO involves sitting not on your butt, but the underside of your thighs, so if you can find a seated position that enables you to do that (might be an idea to not grip your current bars!) you can better judge where your hands naturally fall. On the other hand our first point of contact with the bike is the seat and Harley seats are not the most comfortable, so a change there may be a good starting point.

So an approach to consider is seat, sitting position, then handlebars.

Hope that helps!

 

I have the bars off of a Nightster w/ forwards. They look good, a little more rise than the stock 48 bars and are not apes.
If you want more rise, bitwell chumps get positive reviews